Meant to Be
by BlueRubyBeat
Summary: James Potter decided to walk his dog Padfoot to the park where he was enchanted by a beautiful redhead sitting on the bench. He wanted to talk to her and Padfoot decided to give him the opportunity by running to her. This chance encounter was meant to be he decided.


**Meant to Be**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does.

 **AN:** Captain of the Tutshill Tornados for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition - Round 12

 **AN2:** AU world with no magic

 **Prompt:** Write about two characters in a romantic relationship

 **Characters:** James Potter/Lily Evans

 **Word Count:** 2,017 words

 **~.~**

"No, mother! I will not meet another girl, especially one of your friend's kids. Stop pushing me!" James Potter yelled at his mother.

James was frustrated. His parents, mainly his mother, kept pushing and pushing him to find a wife. They wanted him to marry and have children of his own, never mind that he was only twenty-five and just started getting his life together.

"But James what if y-" James' mother tried to speak before James cut her off.

"No means no, mother!" James sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "I can't take this right now. I'm going for a walk." He whistled. "C'mon Padfoot!"

The pitter-patter of paws ran across the house and stopped a few inches from James' feet. A large black dog was wagging his tail happily with his tongue hanging out. He gave a short bark at his owner as he waited.

"C'mon boy. Let's go for a walk," James spoke and clipped a leash on Padfoot's collar.

"James!" His mother called, but James ignored it and walked out the door.

James walked with no destination in mind, his only thoughts were to get away from his house and visiting parents as fast as he could. He was in desperate need of something new. Padfoot pulled him along and zigzagged around along the way, but got increasingly more excited the further they walked from the house.

"You want to go to the park boy?" James smiled encouragingly. A happy bark answered his question. "Okay, let's see if there's anything interesting at the park today. Maybe your old nemesis is there?"

A threatening growl from Padfoot caught his attention. James chuckled at his dog. Padfoot had an ongoing war going on with one of the squirrels in the park, whom he dubbed Malfoy. The squirrel had a pompous way about him and seemed condescending to his dog. He didn't know how a squirrel could look like that but the damned thing managed it.

As they neared the park, the more excited Padfoot got. James had to jog to keep up with his dog. Once they walked into the park he stopped in his tracks. Padfoot got confused why his master stopped moving and turned his attention to where James was looking. He decided that since his master wasn't moving he would do it for him. Quickly, he snagged his leash then sped off in the direction where James' attention was.

"Padfoot!" James yelled, running after his dog.

He reached him in record time and stuttered out, "S-sorry. He just got worked up for some reason."

"It's okay, I love dogs," a redheaded woman answered as she gave Padfoot a belly scratch.

James chuckled and looked over the woman who held his attention as soon as he walked into the park. She was shorter than him with fiery red, long hair, the greenest eyes, and a beautiful smile.

"I haven't seen you around before. I'm James Potter." James introduced himself, giving her a smile.

"I'm Lily Evans. I just moved to this town a little while ago. What about you?" She replied.

"I've lived here my whole life, it's a great town." James commented. He would have continued but they were interrupted by someone.

"Mommy! Mommy!" A little boy with black hair and the same green eyes as Lily yelled, waving a few flowers in his hand.

"Harry, what have you got there?" Lily turned her attention away from Padfoot and James to her little boy.

"I got something for you, Mommy." He smiled a toothy grin and pressed the flowers into her hand.

Just like any young boy, his attention quickly diverted from his mother to the dog at her feet.

"Doggy!" He quickly started petting the big black dog who turned into a pile of goo at the attention.

Lily and James chuckled at the scene.

"How old?" James asked.

"He just turned five a month ago. His name is Harry." Lily responded. "I lost my husband two years ago and decided we needed a fresh start. His name was Severus Snape, I changed my name back to my maiden name when he passed."

"I didn't ask, I mean…" James was at a loss for words.

"I know, but there's just something about you that makes me trust you. I know it must seem odd but…"

"No, no. It's fine. I think there's something about you too." James said.

For the next hour, the two talked while Harry and Padfoot played around the park under their watchful eyes. When it was time for Lily and Harry to go, James asked to exchange numbers and if he could show them around the town. Lily said she would think about it. Then they parted ways.

 **~.~**

James couldn't keep Lily out of his thoughts. Everything reminded him of her. The fire in his house reminded him of her hair, the green ink of his expensive pen set reminded him of her eyes, and so on. He could not stop thinking about Lily for some reason. They texted each other the week after meeting before Lily finally said yes to his offer, and he was just getting ready to meet her.

They'd arranged to meet at eleven by the fountain, and by 10:50, James had already arrived. He felt tense, but wasn't sure why. He placed his hands in his pockets then pulled them out. He couldn't keep his hands from moving, the more nervous he was the more his hands moved. To calm himself down, he clasped his hands behind his back and took deep breaths.

"James!" A voice called out. He turned to see a smiling Lily with a grinning Harry clutching her hand.

"Lily! Harry!" James called back, a smile forming on his lips.

"Good morning, you two. Fancy a tour with yours truly?" James grinned at the two and gave a wink to young Harry, causing him to giggle.

"Yes we would, thank you for inviting us." Lily responded.

"Nonsense. I'm a lucky guy to give such a beautiful woman and her handsome young boy a tour of this grand town!" James gave a theatrical bow, getting a giggle out of Lily. "Shall we?"

He offered his arm to Lily, which she accepted.

James talked a little about everything they walked past. He would sometimes talk about the history of the town or a funny story about his past as he grew up. Harry thought it particularly funny when he told the story of when he and his friend Remus went on a candy run, and they bought out a candy store. Of course, he also mentioned that they got sick trying to eat all the candy.

It wasn't until about five hours later and a lunch stop in between that James finally ended the tour of the town, back at their starting point.

"So Lily, are you happy you moved here?" James asked.

"Surprisingly so. And thank you for showing us around, it was very kind of you," Lily responded.

"It wasn't a problem. You and Harry are fun to hang around with." James smiled.

"So are you. Harry had a lot of fun, didn't you honey?" Lily said.

"Yeah! It was this much fun!" Harry laughed and pulled his arms apart as far as he could.

James laughed at him and grinned, "I think it was this much fun!" He mimicked Harry but put his arms out further than him.

Harry giggled in response and stage-whispered to his mother, "I like him."

Lily stage-whispered back, "I like him too."

James started blushing to Lily's comment. He coughed into his hand to try to control his embarrassment and nervousness.

"I…well," he started. "So, Lily. I had a fun time today and wanted to ask, you can say no if you want, I don't want to seem too forward but…would you like to go out on a date with me?"

He blurted out his question and hoped Lily would say yes. They had only known each other a week, but it felt like they had known each other their whole lives. He was quite nervous about it, and he hoped he didn't scare her off.

Lily blushed slightly and found herself flattered. She looked at Harry who grinned at her happily and nodded his head super fast as if on a sugar rush.

"I would like that, James. But I don't have anyone to watch Harry." Lily ended with a slight frown.

"Well, if you don't mind, maybe my mother and father could watch over him. They're really great and they wouldn't mind. They run the daycare of the town, so I'm sure they'll be happy to do it." James rambled on and would have continued but stopped himself from further embarrassment.

"The Gryffindor Day Care? I was looking into it for Harry," Lily commented in acknowledgment. "Your parents run it?"

"Yes," James nodded. "My parents love children. My father reads them stories and acts them out as a show. My mother loves cooking and baking for the children."

"I'll take you up on that then," Lily agreed.

"Great! So would you like to go out next Thursday? I'll pick you up around seven?" James asked.

"Seven it is. I'll see you then, James. Have a good evening." Lily smiled and Harry waved goodbye as they left.

 **~.~**

James was very excited for their date. He bought some Easter lilies for the beautiful Lily he was taking out for dinner. He wore a semi-formal outfit for the evening and tried to calm his nerves as he walked up to her home.

He rang the doorbell and waited with bated breath.

"I can do this," James whispered to himself.

The door opened, and he found himself smitten with the perfection that greeted him. Lily had braided her fiery mane into a french braid and wore a lightly colored spring dress and heeled shoes.

"Thank you for coming out with me this evening, my lady," James greeted as he pulled the flowers from behind his back to give to her.

"Thank you, James. These are beautiful." Lily smiled back at him with a blush adorning her cheeks. "Let me put these away, step inside for a moment."

James walked in behind her and closed the door. A bullet shot out and smacked him in the legs, surprising him.

"Hi!" The bullet said.

"Hi to you too. Miss me?" James asked the child attached to his legs.

"Yes! You're going out with Mommy! You better bring her back." Harry grinned before trying to act intimidating like he saw on TV.

James knelt on the ground and nodded seriously. "I'll bring your mommy back safe and sound. You have my word."

Harry kept his glare up for a moment then grinned at him happily. James passed his test.

"You both ready to go?" Lily asked as she walked back in the front hall.

"Yes," James nodded and scooted them both out the door to his car.

James drove them to the daycare his parents owned to drop Harry off before their date.

"Mother, Father." James greeted and gave his mother a hug and his father a nod.

"James, Lily, and little Harry. It's so nice to see you again." James' mother commented.

Lily set up Harry with the daycare a day after their tour of the town.

"Thank you for watching my son while we are out," Lily said.

"It's no problem. Children are my life," James' mother smiled back. "Now shoo you two."

Harry waved goodbye as they walked to James' car for their first date. It wouldn't be their last date either. It was as if they were meant for each other. James was glad that his mother showed up so often that he had to leave his house. He didn't know if he'd have met Lily if she wasn't so insistent on him getting married. He was glad she did since he didn't think he'd ever find the woman for him. James felt it was just meant to be with Lily.

 **~.~**


End file.
